At the start of September 2019, we took our world-renowned four-day DSD residency to Shanghai for the very first time. Forward-thinking participants at this sold-out course spent four game-changing days with DSD Founder and CEO Christian Coachman and his team, where they were introduced to the revolutionary Digital Smile Design concept. Read on to find out what happened at this landmark event and what participants thought about what is sure to become the first of many DSD Residencies in China.

The first DSD Residency in Asia

“Everyone knows China is big, with a population of 1.4 billion, the dental market is growing super fast here in China but the challenge always exists,” said Peipei Cao, DSD China General Manager, describing the dental market. “A lot of things are being done in a traditional way but not really the 3D or digital way,” he continued. As DSD, we bring the best in-house service for the clinics and dentists. We’re proud to do a lot of things with them together, digitally. China has a lot of potential here for the faster growing market in the dental area.

We help  patients to get the best digitally designed smiles and confidence for their lives. That’s what we are passionate about and we want to embrace all the potential ” 

DSD CEO and Founder, Christian Coachman, explained what DSD brings to China: “It’s the biggest country in the world, one of the biggest economies. People are really getting into esthetics, so being here signals a new era of DSD’s development. I was always very excited about the idea of working more in China. We know the potential of the country in general, not only in dentistry, in everything. It’s one of the most powerful countries in the world, one of the biggest markets in the world, also for dentistry and also for esthetics and also for comprehensive oro-facial care. During this course, I was able to confirm these beliefs and be even more excited because the reception for the ideas was amazing. We had a full house, sold-out course. Half of the room was from mainland China, and all the doctors were fully focused and really excited about implementing the DSD ideas into their daily work. Meaning that, the DSD ideas are ready for China and China is ready for the DSD ideas.”

What was involved in the DSD Residency I in Shanghai?

This program of the Shanghai DSD Residency 1 was titled:  “Disruptive Strategies, Storytelling & DSD Updates, Smile Design, Digital Dentistry & Patient Experience”. Through a combination of lectures by Christian Coachman and other industry-leading speakers, participating in activities, and experiencing live patient demonstrations, participants were able to delve into the concepts of Emotional Dentistry and patient communication, and the revolutionary power of software and technology. Over the course of these four days, they were given the tools to start implementing DSD in their own practices and make dentistry a life-changing experience for every patient.

A four-day immersive learning experience

1. Day one - DSD Concept Day: Day one gave participants the chance to step out of their comfort zones by getting to grips with the new concepts that are disrupting dentistry. They practiced DSD documentation and patient digitalization, with these brought to life for them through a live demonstration of a patient’s first appointment.
2. Day two - Teamwork Day: Through practical activities, participants learned how to use Smile Design. They also understood how the Planning Center can help them to implement 3D planning.
3. Day three - Emotional Dentistry Day: Participants got an insight into the value of storytelling and digital marketing in the patient’s journey. They also experienced a live demonstration of a patient’s second appointment.
4. Day four - Implementation Day: It was time for our participants to get hands on! They learned about how to perform the smile simulation, 3D design, and patient presentation. Most importantly, they were able to see how to instantly start implementing DSD in their own work.

What did participants have to say about the program?

Some of those who took part in this game-changing four-day course were glad to share their views on how the concepts will change the way they do dentistry.

“With the 2D to 3D we can simulate the future”

Dr Sheng Zheng, from Hangzhou, China, spoke of how “the whole concept is magic and it holds new things for me, especially with the 2D to 3D we can simulate the future. We, dentists, all focus on technical skills and how to improve technically but we ignore the marketing part, so that is what I learned the most this morning. So, it’s a whole new thing for me.”

“The way you look at dentistry”

Glad to have had the chance to attend, Dr Joy Guo from Beijing, China, commented that: “I’m really glad that DSD has come for the first time to Asia and the thing I liked the most is like, the way you look at dentistry.”

“What we do to our patients that’s actually life changing”

Dr Faisal Aziz, from Singapore, had this to say about his experience: “What I liked the most about the course was really how to present our treatment plans to the patients, that emotional dentistry aspect of it. I think not only has this course taught me how to do dentistry well, it has also taught me the value I can create for my patients and very importantly, what we do to our patients that’s actually life changing.”

The Residency concluded with all participants having been shown how to move from traditional dentistry into digital dentistry.  To watch an overview of the DSD Shanghai Residency click here:

Take your dental career to the next level

If you’ve been inspired by the success of our DSD Residency, you can check out all the information from the four days. To take your dental career to the next level and change patient experience for the better, find out more about all our DSD Residencies and book your spot today: